NOBODY thinks that a teenager should die because he stole a handful of cigars. It's insane. No one believes that a 12 year-old boy should die because he is scaring people with a "toy" rifle. Such a thing seems impossible. Ditto for the 43 year-old black man in NYC. It's hard to believe that he was choked to death because he was selling individual cigarettes on the street. It is unfathomable that citizens could be shot (or choked) for these things in America... and yet they were. In Ferguson, Mo., Michael Brown was shot several times by a white policeman and laid dead on a town street for hours before his body was picked up. In Cleveland, Tamir Rice was shot within seconds after a policeman arrived on the scene. Evidently the office who wasn't sure whether the boy's gun was real or not, and didn't know how to find out. Finally, in NYC, Eric Garner died in a choke hold, even though he said that he couldn't breathe was well under control at the point. All three of these black males are dead, and virtually everyone would agree that justice was not served. Indeed, it was mocked in each of these cases... but to suggest that these incidents were "modern day lynchings" (as some have done) is absurd and unjust as well. Like others, I think that excessive force was used in these cases. Poor judgment as well. However, this doesn't mean that the policemen involved are racists, that there actions were racially motivated... or that they committed a crime in the line of duty. Justice was not served in these encounters, and it was not served in the rioting that followed. No doubt- change is needed, and I applaud the public debate that has been ignited. Still, it is shortsighted to blame those who are caught up in a scenario that is much deeper than their actions. The scenario itself- the fears, prejudices, hopelessness, and reliance on violence must give way to mutual respect and cooperation, This will take time. Until then, I will close with these thoughts:
1) Policemen are scary. I'm a 68 year-old white man- a pastor in a small community... and I am afraid of the police! I think they want it that way. There's been a little bit of Barney Fife in many of them, and I've always had the feeling that joking or casual conversation would not play well;
2) Policemen have a very tough job! They deal with the worst possible people. They are harassed, insulted, and threatened on a steady basis, and a single mistake could cost them their lives. I wouldn't do their job for twice their salary;
3) There have been 3 police officers in the churches that I've served... and they were (and are) honest, kind, and honorable men. Two of them went to Israel with me, and after we returned, I told one of them- a police sergeant- how much I respected him. "Thanks," he said, "but you might change your mind if you worked with me for a week or two... because the language we use and the way that we handle things are hardly Christian. The people we deal with don't respond to Bible stories or group prayer." I was reminded that serving others is often a dirty and bloody business;
4) Rioting is a very dysfunctional response to injustice because it draws attention away from the perceived injustice and puts it on the rioters, who were unjust themselves. It destroys property, livelihoods, and even lives. I can't help believing that the rioters- not the protesters, but the rioters- are just thugs looking for an excuse to riot;
5) Officials are, in my view, rightly reticent to indict a police officer in the line of duty... because it could open up a can of worms that we might all regret. It's a tough job in the first place, and it would be very difficult to recruit someone if he or she could be tried for murder;
6) However, we do not live in a police state, and no one should be permitted to shoot people without accountability. Indicting officers for murder is not the answer, but greater training, new regulations, cameras, and transparency (even in face of the blue-line) would go along way toward alleviating the tension that seems to be building;
7) Communities are composed of families, and both justice and righteousness start at home. Teachers and policemen cannot fix what the families themselves continue to break. It is the parents who must instill a sense of worth and accountability in their children, and if they don't- whether they're black or white- we will all reap the whirlwind. Amen!
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